Martin Truex Jr. started this season engulfed in flames and spraying sod. And somehow, it was better than how last season ended.

Last year, Truex got caught up in one of those once-a-decade or so NASCAR controversies. He was expelled from the playoffs after two other drivers, unknown to Truex, conspired to help him earn a Chase spot.

This year, Truex is driving in calmer circumstances — like when his car caught on fire on the final turn Thursday at a Daytona 500 qualifier, forcing him to carve up grass in the infield and cross the finish line in flames. Truex, who had already qualified for a front-row spot for Sunday’s 500, instead will be booted to the back of the pack. After what happened last year, it’s a step in the right direction.

A second-generation race car driver, Truex will pilot his first race Sunday with Denver’s Furniture Row Racing team in the No. 78 car abandoned by Kurt Busch. For Truex, his new chance with a new team is not about getting revenge on the string-pullers who kicked him out of the Chase. It’s about getting back to his roots running on what he calls “a ragged edge.”

“I raced my butt off because I loved it,” said Truex, who started behind the wheel when he was 12. Like his father, he became a well-known driver on the Busch North Series regional circuit.

“I loved going to the track on a Saturday night and maybe getting beat and saying, ‘Man, you better get back to work.’ Then maybe turning the tables and coming back the next week to whip their (butts). That’s what I loved.”

It’s now 10 years after Furniture Row owner Barney Visser made his NASCAR debut with the No. 78, with Jerry Robertson driving in the second-tier Busch Series. But despite making it to the 13-team Chase playoffs last season with Kurt Busch, FRR still gets a thumbed nose in its direction by the other big-money teams in NASCAR. In the racing world, you don’t read a reference to Furniture Row without the qualifier “single-car team” and “only Sprint Cup team outside the Carolinas.”

But that’s what drew Truex to Denver. And it may be that the 78 — on a technical alliance with big-team Richard Childress Racing and with a Chase-level driver — is near the point of morphing from “those other guys” to a serious, consistent contender.

“Back in the old days, you kinda flew by the seat of your pants,” Truex said. “It’s fun to be a part of that again. Because it’s like it used to be.”

Truex, along with crew chief Todd Berrier and head race engineer Cole Pearn, in their own way build a car on the fly, finding the right mix of parts and touch for race day. Instead of taking the time to make a change that fits for three or four cars in a team, the 78 does it once in a fraction of the time, Truex and Berrier said.

“I feel it’s an advantage. It’s part of why Kurt did so well last year,” Truex said. “They were doing things last year that I’ve never heard of. Last year, early in the season, they were the trendsetters. The way the setups progressed last season, this is the team that started the trend. So it was like everybody was constantly watching what they were doing.

“And I can see why now that I’m here. I see the way they do things here and how they think about stuff — and that’s a good thing. That’s what you need to win races.”

After the brouhaha at Richmond, NAPA Auto Parts yanked his sponsorship and Truex lost his ride. At the same time, Furniture Row was looking for a driver to replace Busch, who signed a big-money deal to drive the No. 41 car for Stewart-Haas. FRR had a want list that included Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish Jr.

“And I’m screaming loud, ‘Time out! Time out! Put it on hold. We’re gonna throw this thing in neutral,’ ” Berrier said of FRR’s search for a driver. “I wanted to make sure we didn’t jump the gun and settle. I felt like the one of us who waited it out the longest would come out on top. So when Martin came along, you don’t get an opportunity often to get another Chase driver.”

Truex, though, isn’t starting the season at Daytona with a chip on his shoulder.

“That’s not me,” he said. “If we make the Chase again, I would be proud. I’d think it was a big accomplishment. There’s a reason that no other single-car team had been in the Chase — because it’s hard to do. So what they did last year was a big deal. Now that puts more pressure on me.”

With Busch racing like a dart last season, Furniture Row notched 11 Top-5 finishes and 16 top-10s. But the biggest obstacle for the 78 remained in the details — a pit crew put together before the season held Busch back, as loose wheels and busted jacks slowed some otherwise strong races.

So Truex and Berrier arranged to hire Truex’s old 56 team from Michael Waltrip Racing. They remain based at MWR, but will pit with Truex.

And yet, perhaps until Truex and crew win a Sprint Cup championship, they remain stock-car outsiders in Denver.

“I don’t think that really matters” Truex said. “You go to the race track. You run as hard as you can run. And at the end of the day, where you finish is where you stand. It doesn’t matter what people think of you or where you’re from. It doesn’t matter what people are saying.”

Daytona 500

What: 56th Daytona 500, NASCAR’s season-opener.Where: Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5-mile modified oval in Daytona Beach, Fla.Distance: 200 laps (500 miles)When: Sunday, 11 a.m. TV: FoxDefending champ: Jimmie JohnsonStarting spot: Truex was set to start on the front row, but because a wreck forced him to use a backup car, he must move to the back for the green flag.

covers the Broncos and the NFL, baseball and the Rockies, and all sorts of sports. He started working at The Denver Post while in high school, in 1997, before graduating from the University of Colorado. Reach him at ngroke@denverpost.com

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